The 2011 Nestbox Diary

June (part 3)

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13 June - First egg hatches in SW-le

The wind continued to swing round overnight and at breakfast time (9am) was from the southwest, with the temperature up to 15C. While still overcast it's a dry start to the day, and the birds in SW-le are still sitting on two eggs (or so I thought at the time).

By 10.15am the cloud was breaking up and as I write this there is bright sunshine, and the temperature has risen to over 17C.

By late afternoon the mercury had made it to over 20C, and we were able to eat outside for the first time this month.

And there is brightness too in SW-le - At around 9.30pm I caught the briefest glimpse of a chick's head moving as the sitting male moved. That first sighting was confirmed at 10.30am the when the female returned to the nest. And by the end of the afternoon there were two chicks - great news after the hesitant start to incubation.

The good news from SW-le has to be balance by some disappointing, if not unexpected news from SW-up where the youngest chick has not survived. However, its two siblings are both doing well.

The patterns of behaviour of the two breeding pairs continue to change as the second pair of chicks hatch out. In SW-le there was an adult in the box at all times during the day. Once the female made the first trip out at 4.48am there were 20 returns to the nest by a parent, including 17 change-overs (and feeds) and two instances when the male returned and left again. The male was the last to return, at 9.55pm, the latest yet.

Over in SW-up the two surviving chicks have been left alone fifteen times today, for a total of just over 3½ hours. The dull start to the day had the parents staying put until the first of them left at 9.35am. It partner headed out at 9.51am. After that absence they returned to the nests a total of 24 times during the day, with food being brought in at every visit except for the last few time before they returned for the night at 9.50pm.

The new pair in SW-ri made the largest number of returns, thirty, between their first outings at 7.28am and the final return at 9.33pm. Most often there was just one bird in the box but on  several occasions the pair spent time together in there.

Today saw what were probably the most frenetic flying displays by Swifts that I have ever seen here. Standing out in our driveway I began to wonder if I should be wearing a helmet as they swooped past in front of me between many attempts to enter both Sparrow and House Martin boxes, as well as approaching the Swift boxes themselves. The Swift boxes at the front end of the driveway are tucked up very close to the eves and I even saw a couple of Swifts climb up into the space above the boxes.

14 June - A very pleasant sunny day right from the start, with a light breeze, variable between easterly and southerly, and with a maximum temperature of 21C.

In SW-le the day started with the female leaving at 4.21am, returning nineteen minutes later to trigger the first change-over of the day. During the day the chicks were not left unattended and there were 25 or 26 returns by a parent before the final return at 9.43pm. I'm hesitant about that figure because at 7.33am, while the female was sitting, a bird entered the box, but instead of crossing the box it immediately turned around and left as the female turned towards it - not the behaviour that I expect of the male!

In SW-up The day started at 5.55am, returning at 6.11am for the first of at least fourteen change-overs today, in addition to nine periods when both parents were absent for a total of just over 3½ hours (same as yesterday, to the nearest minute!). The final return of the day took place at 9.45pm.

SW-ri was even busier than yesterday. Between the first trips out by the pair at 6.16/6.18am and the final return at 9.32pm, a bird entered the box forty times. Again, most visits involved just one Swift but there were also numerous times when both were present, especially during the morning.

The flying displays continued at intervals throughout the day. With them flying at low level I haven't been able to do a head count but there must be at least twenty Swifts involved. While I can account for up to six (although at those times when I watched there were at least two in residence each time),  it would be interesting to see if/where the rest go at night. So far I have seen Swifts visiting just one of the boxes that I put up for my neighbours. That was the box I can see from my lounge. I need to spend time sitting outside to see some of the others.

15 June - The weather seems to be on a see-saw at the moment. Today it was a case of grey skies once more, quite high cloud to start with by getting lower as the day progressed, and with dampness in the air during the afternoon and the occasional light drizzle. The temperature peaked at around 19C in the late morning but had dropped a few degrees by the early afternoon.

Despite the grey skies, the Swifts with chicks to feed have remained quite active. In SW-le the female was first out again at 4.29am and the first change-over occurred on her return at 4.46am.  Today there were 23 returns to the nest, of which nineteen resulted in change-overs and there were just two instances  of the male returning and then leaving again, both before 7am. Tonight the chicks were left unattended for just three minutes (9.29 - 9.32pm). The male was last bird in at 9.52pm.

This morning saw an earlier start in SW-up with the two parents leaving at 5.53 and 6.06am - the first of 13 absences by them today, for a total of 3hr 18min. This was fourteen minutes less than on the previous two days. During the day the parents returned to the nest a total of 23 times, and as far as I can tell some food was brought in every time.

In SW-ri the grey skies seems to dampen their enthusiasm just a little bit as they still returned to the box some 26 times between them, with both birds in on eight occasions. Their day started when they both left at 5.07am and ended when they returned together at 9.27pm.

16 June - A wet, cool morning, but it brightened up for the afternoon with sunshine and showers, and a high of 16C and a breeze from the south-west.

I'll start with SW-ri this time because there has been a big step forward in the behaviour of the 'new' pair. They headed out for the first time at 5.39am. While I counted twenty returns to the box during the day, most of the sessions in the box involved both birds, and at 9.43am I saw the first feather being brought in and glued (with saliva) to the floor of the box. Another was brought in at 1.03pm.

 At 2.26pm a large white feather was delivered and fixed into place. While that bird was still present its partner arrived with an even larger one, only to be attacked(?). For the next minute or so the pair seemed to wrestle over possession of the feather before they settled down, and when the feather had been glued into place they left together at 2.37pm. One more feather was brought in a couple of hours later, and following a few more visits by the pair they returned for the night at 9.36pm.

Next door in SW-le that pair have been very diligent parents today, with one of them present al all times. Apart from one occasion when the male returned and left again early this morning there was an unbroken sequence of eighteen change-overs today between the first trip out by the male at 4.36am and his final return at 9.48pm. And I think food was brought in on every visit apart from the first and last returns.

In SW-up the two chicks are doing well, and there was even a bit of wing flapping by the older sibling. I recorded 23 instances of a parent returning today, with food brought in at all but the last two, with the chicks being left on their own for 5hr 10min over 14 sessions, with the longest period lasting just under an hour.

17 June - A thoroughly miserable day, overcast from the start and cool. This morning there were occasional showers and the temperature managed to reach 14C. However, as the afternoon progressed the showers became heavier and in the late afternoon / early evening we had heavy rain.

In a way that was useful as during the morning I tapped into the down pipe from the house's guttering to provide a water supply for the Jasmine plant that grows in a large container to one side of our front door and which trails up the wall. Because the container is under the shelter of the overhanging eves (where the House Martin nests are situated) it is sheltered from rain. This evening's rain was a good test for the arrangement and confirms that I need to reduce the flow rate in the pipe, a job to do tomorrow when sunshine is forecast.

Back to the boxes where the weather certainly had an effect. In SW-le the male was first out at 4.38am, and he went out twice more before the female left for the first time at 8.14am as the first of six change-overs took place this morning.

The chicks were left unattended between 2.07 and 2.26pm. Between then and 9pm just four more change-overs took place along with the female leaving twice in succession.  During the heaviest rain the pair remained in the box for nearly 2½ hours. After 9pm the chicks were left unattended twice for short periods before the parents returned for the night at 9.44 and 9.49pm. The chicks were alone for a total of 45 minutes.

In SW-up the parents started off quite slowly, with the first bird out at 7.37am and the second leaving as soon as the first returned at 8.05am. However after that they got on with the daily search for food, leaving the chicks for a total of 5hr 42 minutes today. In the time before the heaviest rain at the end of the afternoon they returned with food ten times but then remained in the nest between 5pm and just after 9pm when both left again to return with food six more times before settling for the night at 9.48pm.

The pair in SW-ri only brought in one feather between them today, not surprisingly. They left together at 6.06am and returned to the box twelve times during the day. As did the other pairs, during the heaviest rain they remained in their box between 5.31pm and 9.09pm (actually long after the rain had eased) and then returned for the night at 9.13 / 9.21pm.

The biggest news items of the day came not from these boxes but elsewhere. I can confirm that one of the boxes on houses opposite us has a new resident pair of Swifts, and I suspect that the same may be true of another of the boxes, on the house next door but one to us.

The other highlight of the day came when I went outside at just before 8pm, looked up and saw the largest gathering of Swifts overhead so far this year. There were easily 40+ flying around despite the drizzle, and from their behaviour it was clear that they were catching insects (while all six of our birds were still in their boxes!)

I apologise for the lack of images these last few days - not a technical problem, but my weariness I'm afraid, although I do have video recordings from which I hope to grab images when the force is on my side once more. I hope to get a few pictures organised by the end of today - that wasn't achieved, but at least I've managed to do a rough edit to turn hours of recordings from the five three days into clips lasting minutes from which I should be able to grab the images I need.